HISTORY TERM 2 Flashcards
(28 cards)
What is the Common Era?
The time from when Christians believe that Christ was born, which was year 1 CE.
e.g. this year is 2025 CE
CE used to be called AD
What is BCE?
BCE = Before Common Era
i.e. years counted backwards from when Christians believe Christ was born
Why do we use CE instead of AD?
CE is more INCLUSIVE as it doesn’t refer to a particular religion
When did the first African farmers migrate to the southern Africa
about 250 CE about 1800 years ago, in the IRON AGE
Where did the first African farmers in Southern Africa come from?
Central and Eastern Africa, from countries now known as Nigera and Cameroon
By 500 CE, where has the early African farming communities settled?
Limpopo and Mpumalanga in South Africa
Parts of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana
What did the first African farmers bring with them? (3 things)
- Agriculture (grew crops like millet and sorghum)
- Iron-working skills
- Domesticated animals (like cattle, goats and sheep)
What played a major role in shaping languages, cultures and societies of Southern Africa?
the Bantu expansion
Why did first African farmers migrate to South Africa?
- Better land (more people needed more fertile land)
- Climate changes (doughts etc in central Africa) and they needed summer rainfall
- Iron-working advantages (tools made it easier to farm new land)
- Overcrowding and conflict (some people moved away)
- Exploration and trade
By when had farmers from further north settle ALL over South Africa?
around 650 CE
What crops did the first farmers in South Africa grow?
Sorghum and millet
What things did the first farmers do apart from growing crops and hearding cattle/sheep?
they were ironworker,
some made potter and
some traded in ivory
What were the first farmers settlements called?
Homesteads
Describe a homestead belonging to one of the first farmers?
A GROUP of households (huts for each wife and her children) in a YARD in a CIRCLE with the farmer’s cattle KRAAL at the centre make up a homestead
What is a household (for early farmers in SA)
A place where a wife and her children lived
What was a village of early farmers in SA made up of?
Many homesteads (where each farmer lived with their wives, children and cattle)
Who was in control of a village of early farmers?
A chief, what was the wealthiest and owned the largest homestead in the village
How did early farmers measure their wealth?
by the size of their herd of livestock
Who was in charge of a homestead?
the headman
Who reported to the chief of a village?
the headmen
Why did the early farmers in South Africa live in MUCH LARGER groups than the San and Khoikhoi?
they needed more people to work on the farms and care for the cattle
Who ruled the villages of the early farmers in South Africa
they were ruled by a king or chief
What did the early farmers TRADE or barter their extra cattle and crops for?
things they did not have
like beads and cloth
What tools did the early farmers use?
metal tools like axes and hoes
